Michael King and Randy Vasquez carry a Padres' pitching staff struggling with depth

The starting staff has not been the greatest, but they have done enough to keep the team moving forward. They sit in first place in the NL West with their 24-16 record.

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Michael King and Randy Vasquez carry a Padres' pitching staff struggling with depth

Michael King is doing well leading this group. He has started eight games, compiling a 3-2 record with a 2.76 ERA and 45 strikeouts on 45.2 innings of work.

However, he is not the only one doing well. Randy Vasquez is also looking the part, holding together a 4-1 record with a 3.05 ERA and 42 strikeouts. He and King are a good one-two punch, but the rest of the rotation leaves much to be desired.

With this, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller tags SD as having the No. 24 starting rotation across MLB.

"Michael King and Randy Vasquez have blossomed into a strong one-two punch atop this rotation. However, the spots in the rotation that were supposed to be reserved for Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Nick Pivetta have been all sorts of problematic. German Marquez, Walker Buehler, Matt Waldron and Griffin Canning have each made multiple starts with ERAs north of 5.00 to show for it."

Maybe the depth can be saved a bit when Giolito gets his shot. But the front office should also be looking around to see which teams may be looking to part ways with a durable starting pitcher.

While they are in first place in the division, they can't feel too confident about keeping that lead with the state of their pitching staff.

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